>> good morning. thanks for joining me in this special hour of cnn's newsroom. i'm jake tapper in for carol costello. we begin with breaking news out of washington, d.c. president obama and the state department slapped the first sank sanctions against those they think tor blame for the problems in ukraine. michelle kosinski has details. >> this is a huge day for planning and diplomacy. we have the u.n. security council meeting. all 28 european heads of state in an emergency meeting to discuss possible sanctions against russia. we know the u.s. has taken the lead in much of that diplomacy. this morning, took that a step further to action. the president just signed this executive order declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat in ukraine. and imposing sanctions. first of all, freezing the assets of people deemed by the u.s. government to be

responsible for, i'm just going to read these bullet points, actions or policies that undermine democratic processes in ukraine. that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of ukraine or the misappropriation of state assets there. it also denies entry to the united states of people deemed to fall under those categories as well as banning any donation or funding of those people. now in this order, and its accompanying message, the president does not make a blanket sanction against russia. this is against individuals, although at this point the administration is not naming names. and soon we'll have more information from senior administration officials. we'll get that information to you. jake? >> michelle, any idea yet, and i know this is, in any case, we'll move on as the world's diplomats debate, they are demanding action. they want to punish and isolate russia for the military invasion

of a neighbor. here's one senate resolution. it calls for kicking russia out of the g-8, suspending the russia/nato council, reducing the u.s. diplomatic posts in russia and asking world cup officials to reconsider soccer matches there in 2018. our next guest introduced that resolution. dan coates is former u.s. ambassador to germany. he's a republican from indiana. senator, thanks for joining us. first, i want to get your reaction to this announcement by the white house this morning announcing the targeting of certain individuals for sanctions. does this go far enough for you? >> well, it's a baby step in the right direction but given the fact that the united states is viewed as retreating, declining president who is viewed at weak on foreign policy, very indecisive, we need to do a lot more than this, i think, to get this bully that is in the playground stood up to by the united states and provide the leadership with europe and our allies to show that we really

mean business here. you can't just trample on your neighbor because you think we can't do anything about it. economic sanctions need to be strong. they need to be wide. just naming a few individuals is a small start. i've listed a number of options for the president and we should work together with the president as the united body so that we have a unified message to tell the russians we're not going to tolerate this. >> senator, as you know, the u.s. has about $40 billion a year in trade with russia. it's much bigger, about ten times bigger in europe. in order for these sanctions to really hurt, we really need -- the u.s. really needs the europeans to be involved. but there seems to be great reluctance especially on the part of our allies, u.s. allies in the uk, in germany. what do you think the obama administration or you in congress can do to get germans and brits and others in the eu more involved and more willing to impose sanctions.

>> well, i think remind europe that small things that have happened in the past have led to tragic consequences in europe. it's import toont have stability there, importance to have confidence and strength to stand up to these bully tactics of russia. secondly, i think we need to do some things to reassure europe that given the surplus of energy supplies now around the world, whether it's from norway, whether it's from the united states or other places. europe does not have to be so dependent on russian energy. and, therefore, ought to have a little more freedom to stand up and tell putin that this is not something that's acceptable and they're not simply going to kowtow because it affects their economy. you want to avoid anything translating into something much larger which we've seen historically happen in europe. protect both the united states and the world from that kind of occurrence. >> senator coats, what kind of support are you getting for your resolution and do you think it

has any chance of passing anytime soon? >> some legislation needs to pass. i have passed one that has strong support. other support coming from other members. senator durbin introduced something yesterday. we all need to get on board on this. i mean, this is something that affects the united states. we shouldn't play politics but we do need leadership from our president which has been, as i said, weak and indecisive in the past. this is his opportunity to step up, i think, and reassert that leadership as the world so desperately needs. it won't happen without the u.s. leaving. >> the world cup soccer matches in russia that you propose be moved. those are four years from now. doesn't that seem perhaps to play devil's advocate here a little far away to be moving them? >> well, obviously, most of what i propose is much tougher than that. but this is symbolic from the stanpoint that these are going to be in sochi. vladimir putin goes down to sochi and says, this is the new

russia. as he showed in the olympics. whether it's the g-8 meeting or whether it's the fifa world cup four years from now we need to destroy this notion that russia is a nice guy, playing with the world, cooperating with everyone and just come to sochi and you'll see how different things are. that has all been trumped by this invasion of their neighbor and the lies that have come forward in terms yf they did it and so forth. it's symbolic. so it's one of many measures which i've offered. it's the economic sanctions that will really hit home with the russians. >> you said putin has imperial ambitions and you said that could come to threaten us all. what do you mean exactly by that, threatening us all? how is putin a direct threat to the united states? >> well, it's i would say it's an indirect threat at this particular point although this first step is something we ought to put in the context of history when the soviet union came unglued, it was thought that they are not going to be a major

world player. putin has put himself in the place of saying, no, i want to restore russia to its former position. and by doing these steps here in terms of enlarging russia and saying, well, anybody who was part of our soviet union before that thinks they want to be with russia, does this not remind us of what happened with hitler in the early '20s and '30s? these are germans. so we're going to incorporate them regardless of what international law says. and this is the first step for putin. i don't know if he has designs on moving forward but i can tell you this. the baltics are nervous. poland is nervous. romania and other nations that have been on the fringe of the soviet union found their democracy, found their liberty are now nervous. so i think we need to step up now and stop this before it might lead to something down the future that we would regret not having stood up when it happened the first time. >> senator, before you go with

the benefit of hindsight, is it problematic? do you wish that george w. bush had done more to retaliate against russia when they invaded georgia in 2008 in retrospect? should the u.s. have made a bigger deal out of that. >> i think of taking a strong stand in terms of international law being violated and someone violating another nation's sovereignty, whether it's republican, whether it's democrat, doesn't matter. the united states needs to stand strong and needs to lead. it needs to lead its european allies and friends around the world in condemnation of this and taking whatever steps are nose s necessary to say, gotten there. >> secretary of state jun kerry is holding talks with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in rome. elise joins us on the phone. what's the latest in terms of

getting lavrov to sit down with his ukrainian counterpart. any movement there? >> there's no movement right now, jake. secretary kerry and foreign minister lavrov have been meeting for just about an hour. this follows yesterday's three meetings they had in various groupings. a couple meetings alone. one meeting with british, french and german foreign ministers. not only did they want to get him to sit down with his ukrainian counterpart but want to get agreement on some kind of diplomatic process going on. they are trying to put together some kind of contact group or coordination groups where you can get the ukrainians and russians in the same room with other countries trying to get international monitors on the ground. this is really still the proposal that's on the table. the german chancellor angela merkel spoke to president putin about this yesterday. and now this is where the state of play is. we don't really think there's going to be a meeting today or tomorrow between the ukrainian and the russians.

foreign minister lavrov looks like he'll to v to go back to moscow, huddle with president putin and get some instructions. kerry is saying this is going to take some time but moving forward they hope they can get something done. >> do you think ultimately the u.s. government will accept russia basically annexing crimea and then just leaving it at that? as long as russia does not go into eastern ukraine and only just annexes, essentially, crimea and southern ukraine, will the u.s. take that as a victory and go home? >> i don't think you are ever going to hear any u.s. official kind of say it like that because then they would be capitulating to the position they've been thinking over the last week or so. but when you speak to officials privately, you do get the sense they are emphasizing more that russ russia's special relationship

with ukraine, the crimean peninsula la and the fact that all ukrainian citizens have to be taken into account here, including those russian speaking citizens. and the fact that at one point crimea did belong to the russians and the russians still feel it's their territory. so i don't think you're ever going to hear the u.s. say to russia, okay, it's yours. but i think what you are going to have is a return to the status quo perhaps where russian troops return back to their barracks but there's a taccid recognition this is a russian territory and i think that that in effect will calm the situation down. ukrainians will have an election. they'll put together a unity government and have an election and russia will have a hand in that because there are so many ukrainians in the country that bend towards russia. so i think over the coming days and weeks, that's going to be how it shakes out, jake. >> and we've seen just in the

last 24 hours announcements and suggestions from crimean officials that ukrainian troops in crimea will be considered occupying troops as opposed to russian troops which will be considered part -- having been invited. there's discussions now of crimea going to the russian ruble. obviously, there's going to be some sort of referendum on crimeans being able to vote. whether or not they want to be part of the russian federation. how much do u.s. officials think that these are organic maneuvers by crimean officials versus russia pulling the strings? >> well, i think it's a little bit of both because you have these ukrainian officials in the crimea that speak russian that are bending towards russia. clearly, russian moves are put something sort of pressure on this. but i think this is all, while this might take place, i think a lot of it is trying to raise the stakes here and trying to claim their territory to say, you know, it's been a come to us,

whether you like it or not. and so we can take moves to do it officially. we can take moves to officially annex it. we really don't have to do that because, jake, no matter any way you slice it, no matter where this ends up, it does look like crimea will end up in the hands of the russians in some way. so they might be taking moves to formalize it. i think you'll see in the coming days a diplomatic process that doesn't necessarily officially hand the crimeans to the russians but makes pretty clear this is, was and always will be a russian territory. >> elise labbott traveling with secretary of state john kerry, thanks. ukraine's interim prime minister is speaking out. calling the referendum illegal. >> this is illegitimate decision. and this so-called referendum has no legal grounds at all.

that's the reason why we urge russian government not to support those who claim separatism in ukraine. crima was, is and will be an integral part of ukraine. >> what can you tell us about this intended vote? >> after the revolution in kiev, pro-russian government stormed the local crimean parliament, took control, only letting pro-russian members of that parl whoimt fired the local government set up a new government, declare their intention to hold a referendum in late may on the question of independence. today they've locked in a date. it is now just over a week away on march 16th. and independence doesn't even get a mention. there are two questions that will be asked. your in favor of crimea becoming a member of the russian federation or would you prefer

it remain part of ukraine. remain part of ukraine or essentially volunteer to be annexed by the russian federation. >> phil, do we have any indication which way this vote may go either in favor of joining russia or staying status quo? >> we know there is an ethnic russian majority. around 60% of the population. today local authorities are thinking they can get about 70% of the vote in favor of joining the russian federation. some polling suggests only 40% of locals would like to join russia. there's a key question here on the fairness of such a vote, particularly if there are russian soldiers occupying the territory at the time. and i think that points to one of the key issues we've been talking about for a couple of days now. why is russia so reluctant to acknowledge there are russian soldiers on the ground there intervening in events directly? the russian narrative has been this is homegrown, grassroots organic process. the locals rejecting the resolution of the new government. this referendum is very much a part of that narrative. if russia acknowledges there are

russian soldiers occupying that argument loses considerable credibility. >> it's orwellian. phil black in moscow, thank you. >> michelle kosinski is at the white house with the first sanctions imposed by the obama administration. >> we just had a briefing with senior administration officials who called this imposing of sanctions a powerful flexible tool to target individuals. although they did say that in terms of the asset freezing, nobody has been identified or designated yet. that that's something that could happen in the future. it's there for them to use as they see fit. although it did sound like officials were saying that where it regards visa bans or revoking people's visas that that was the case. that there are already people identified that may even be in the process. although we're looking for more clarification on that. these officials said they have grave concerns that the situation in ukraine will

escalate further. and they added that if that does happen, that they could impose more sanctions or take further steps. the question was asked, why now? did something today make you want to impose, sign the executive order, impose these sanctions right now pointing basically to that move taken by the crimean parliament. take initial steps to separate from ukraine. but these officials said no. it had nothing to do with that referendum. basically they felt they needed to act quickly and that there need to be costs and consequences identified as they've been talking about and planning for over the last couple of days. they also said that even though discussions are ongoing on some level, i mean, two days in a row now secretary of state kerry is meet with his russian counterpart. that that didn't want to hold the administration back. that they didn't want to be held by anything ongoing from imposing this and having this in place based on what's going on on the ground and as those

developments continue. jake? >> michelle, any word from the white house on their struggles to get their european counterparts to impose similar sanctions. we know that the brits and the germans have been reluctant to join the u.s. in a sanction regime. did they comment on that at all? >> you know, as regards europe, each of those countries, especially france and the uk, while we know that there's hesitation there, some of which has been expressed, they've also expressed it the other way. cameron, prime minister david cameron from the uk said nothing should be off the table. france specifically mentioned the possibility of sanctions. but today administration officials said that they've been working closely with those allies. that there may be steps taken today that the eu could impose sanctions as well. and the administration said that those allies knew that these sanctions by the u.s. today were coming. >> michelle kosinski at the white house, thank you.

we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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this morning, ukrainian officials are accusing the russian government of purposely sinking an old warship at the entrance to a harbor and trapping seven ukrainian ships. take a look at this man. you can see the harbor and we've circled the only entrance so you can see how easy it may be for a warship to block that entry. let's bring in an expert in military policy and formerly

worked for the united states state department. russia has denied the troops in crimea are russian troops. but who else would sink a warship to trap ukraine's vessels? >> well, i think chairman dempsey yesterday was pretty clear that the information he had indicated that these were, while they may not have been wearing russian uniforms were russian soldiers operating under the command of the russian pirate command. let's just take that as a given. >> ukraine's prime minister is warning to stop stoking tensions. do you think they are trying to provoke the ukrainian military? >> i don't think so. russia's strategic objective has within to ensure the stability inside of ukraine -- the instability inside ukraine does not lead to them losing their strategic port in sevastopol. i'd think at thit point the russians are continuing to play their game of chess, have taken

that piece and simply want to pocket it and move on. >> general, the russian foreign minister slammed nato and the osce, the organization for security and cooperation in europe. he said it's, quote, not helping. is he right, do you think? are international actions exacerbating this crisis? >> well, the russians for years and years have had a paranoia any time countries on their borders have gone through periods of instability. we're trying to ensure if there's a referendum inside the crimea that that referendum is free and fair. if the people decide to move towards the russian federation, back to where they were pre-1954, that should be done on legitimate basis. so the russians, rather than suggesting it's provoking, should be welcoming the international observers so that referendum can be considered by the world community free and fair. >> crimea's parliament is set to vote in ten days on whether to join the russian federation or

stay with ukraine. how does that change the situation? >> that's going to be up to vladimir putin. if, in fact, the referendum indicates that the people want to turn west rather than remain with russian federation or lean towards russian federation, it's really in his court as to the next steps. will he in fact, put more troops in there to defend his base in sevastopol, fearing the ukrainians may take it away from him. or does he just simply say i'm going to stay here and never leave? that port is critical to the russian military. it's the only warm water port they have in their inventory. and my suspicion is that putin will do what he can to hang on to that port. >> brigadier general mark kim, thank you. a fiery showdown during a capitol hill hearing even though the star witness was refusing to talk. we'll go inside the clash between republican daryl issa and his democratic colleague elijah cummings. captain obvious: i'm in a hotel.

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together they lead the powerful and influential house oversight committee, but california republican darrell issa and maryland democrat elijah cummings showed anything but unity during an irs hearing yesterday taking aim at one another in a heated exchange that shocked many of those in attendance and later led issa to accuse cummings of slander. senior washington correspondent joe johns has more. >> reporter: it was pure junkyard politics. republican committee chairman darrell issa kicked it off. >> the committee will come to

order. >> reporter: by forcing former irs official lois lerner to come before the committee and invoke her right to refuse to testify even though she'd already done it months before. >> your still seeking a one-week delay in order to testify? >> on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully exercise my fifth amendment right and decline to answer that question. >> issa tried to adjourn the meeting. >> i can see no point in going further. i have no expectation that ms. lerner will cooperate with this committee and, therefore, we -- >> chairman. chairman. >> but congressman elijah cummings, the committee's top democrat, wasn't having it. >> mr. chairman you cannot run a committee like this. you just cannot do this. this is -- we are better than that as a country. we're better than that as a committee. >> what followed was a bare knuckled display of how much these guys don't like each other. >> i want to ask a question. >> you are all free to leave. we've adjourned but the gentleman may ask his question. >> issa trying to get people to

leave the room signaling for the microphones to be turned off. >> cummings demanding to be heard. >> he was by the microphones attached to the cameras in the room. >> if you will sit down and allow me to ask the questions, i am a member of the congress of the united states of america. i am tired of this. >> cummings also accused issa of making claims in the news media about lois lerner but not sharing his documentation. >> although he provided a copy of his report to fox, he refused my request to provide it to the members of the committee. >> in the end eissa said this may mean the investigation has hit a brick wall. >> it may mean we've gotten to the bottom of it. at this point, roads lead to ms. lerner. the witness who took the fifth. she becomes one of the key characters at this point. had she been willing to explain those e-mails, which were provided through separate subpoenas, then we could have

perhaps brought this to a close. without that, we made dead end with ms. lerner. >> the only way we may find out for sure if lois lerner is protected by the amendment is if she's ever held in contempt of congress and it goes to a judge who would make the determination. so far no, decision has been made on whether the republican-controlled committee will try to take that issue to that level. joe johns, cnn, washington. >> thanks to joe johns. in the next hour, elijah cummings will hold a news conference. cnn will monitor his remarks beginning at 10:30 and bring you news if he makes any. still to come, the u.s. now imposing sanctions on some russian and ukrainian officials. but how does that help de-escalade-eska l de-escalate this crisis? [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah.

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good morning. thanks for joining me in this special hour of "newsroom." i'm jake tapper in for carol costello. top military officials are going to be defending their budget. defense secretary chuck hagel and chairman of the joint chiefs

of staff general barton dempsey will be appearing before the house armed services committee. the pair will be taking questions about their budget proposal. they are also expected to answer some tough questions from lawmakers about the situation in ukraine, what u.s. intelligence knew and what u.s. intelligence failed to anticipate. europe's 28 leaders are in an emergency meeting on ukraine discussing possible sanctions against russia. erin mclaughlin is covering the meeting in brussels. we talked about the uk and germany being skeptical that they would -- you and i were being skeptical they were going to impose any sort of sanctions. has there been any movement by the eu on imposing sanctions? >> it's very much wait and see at this moment, jake. just a short while ago, we heard from the ukrainian prime minister giving a press conference here in brussels, calling on europe for more support and cooperation. this after the european

commission yesterday announced a $15 billion aid package for a country that badly needs it. many experts saying ukraine is staring down the barrel of financial crisis, could default on its loans as early as this month. the tone for today's meeting was very much set by eu foreign policy chief kacatherine ashton. they risk damaging their relationship with europe. working lunch now under way involving heads of state and government. german chancellor angla merkel, one of them seen as a key player in all of this. take a listen to what she had to say when she arrived here today. >> translator: we cannot go back to the daily routine, especially not when there's no diplomatic talks. this means we have to consider sanctions in various ways. if we have to impose sanctions or not, depend on the outcome of the diplomatic efforts.

the foreign ministers are meeting at the same time in rome and, therefore, the day will show in which direction we go. >> so a range of sanctions currently up for debate. varying from stringent to symbolic. possible sanctions against individual assets, as well as suspension of negotiations on visa issues. it's very much wait and see. europe -- there have been divisions in europe on this issue. countries in east eastern european countries wanting more stringent sanctions. countries such as germany wanting more debate. so again, time will tell. we'll probably know in the next few hours or so, jake. >> i think the united states does about $40 billion in trade with russia every year. it's more than ten times that for the eu. and russia has threatened to retaliate to seize the assets of

any company if that company's country of origin imposes sanctions. how concerned are the members of the european union, the officials there by the prospect that this could really cause them some economic damage? >> well, i think that's a real concern, jake considering that russia is the -- is europe's third largest trading partner, as well as the number one provider to europe of gas, of energy. so all of those factors are certainly a consideration, especially given the fact that europe is just emerging from its own economic crisis. countries such as germany, such as britain, do have strong economic ties. so all of that a consideration going into today's talks. jake? >> erin mclaughlin, thanks. with the crisis in ukraine we're witnessing global diplomacy in action and things are moving quickly. the u.s. sanctioned some russian and ukrainian officials by

imposing a visa ban and russia's foreign minister is meeting john kerry in rome. after the foreign minister sergei lavrov accused nato of making the situation worse. joining me is christopher hill, four-time ambassador, most recently serving as ambassor to iraq. let's start by talking about the sanctions imposed by the u.s. state department this morning. will russia take this kind of visa ban seriously, you think? >> i think, frankly, the sanctions imposed by the u.s. really have to do with -- it's more of a washington story. the administration wants to get out ahead of the congress. otherwise the congress will get out ahead of the united states. i don't think these sanctions will have much of an effect on the way the russians really think about it. i don't think they are coercive in the sense of the russians will hit the side of the head with the palm of their hands and say, we have to change our ways.

it's more punitive and a way to show the u.s. isn't just sitting there. the u.s. is doing something. the real action is on the diplomatic side right now. >> how so? what do you think is -- needs to be done there and what do you think can be accomplished there on the diplomatic side? >> clearly a couple of things going on. the european union is looking at putting together this big package for ukraine. secondly, the ukrainians have to kind xhf of come up with a government that's more inclusive, that does involve the eastern parts of the country, that do imply that they understand that ukraine is not just western ukraine. and so they have a lot to do there. and i think it's important that the u.s. secretary of state, not be perceived as only talking to the russians. that is over the head of the ukrainians which is why this whole secondary piece, trying to get the ukrainians to talk directly to the russians or trying to get the russians to talk directly to the ukrainians is critical. and then this little time bomb ticking away which is the idea

that crimea will then, you know, some time in a few days, really, ten days, will try to have a referendum will which will ark parentally try to join russia. that's not helpful to anybody right now. >> mr. ambassador, let me put you on hold for one second. secretary of defense chuck hagel is talking before the senate defense committee. we'll take that live. >> reaffirming our commitments to allies in central and eastern europe. i strongly support these efforts. the way it is being handled. the steps the president has taken to apply both the diplomatic and economic pressure on russia. and the continued collaboration, coordination with our european partners. this includes the new visa restrictions and executive order authorizing sanctions that the white house announced this morning. earlier this week, as you know, i directed the department of defense to suspend all military

to military engagements and exercises with russia. and yesterday, i announced a series of steps that we'll take to reinforce allies in central and eastern europe during this crisis. these include stepping up our joint training through our aviation detachment in poland. i was advised this morning that that continues to move forward. i visited poland a few weeks ago, and we are going to augment our participation in nato's ballistic air policing mission and was advised this morning that we have six f-16s that have arrived in latvia as of the last 24 hours. >> that's secretary of defense chuck hagel testifying before the house armed services committee. let's go back to ambassador christopher hill to get his reaction to this crisis. sir, i'm sorry for interrupting. we were talking before we cut to

the live coverage of defense secretary hagel about the referendum in crimea that will allow the parl tliiament there vote on whether or not the citizenses of crimea want to become a russian federation. what can you tell us about that situation and how much could that complicate this situation? >> well, clearly it will complicate the situation. your reporter on the scene, elise labott, was talking about at the end of the day we'll probably have a situation that looks like the status quo. that is with a russian presence in crimea but a crimea that is nominally administered by the ukraine. so if this -- if this referendum were to try to change that, that would be, i think, problematic because you would have a situation where there are fewer of these, if i can say, pro-russian voters in ukraine with the result that ukraine will continue to kind of move westward, which is not what the

russians want to see. for a lot of reasons, i don't think anyone is interested in this vote happening. and so probably there will be some effort to say it's nonbinding, that it's an expression of the will of the people but not one that will be turned into -- into any kind of change on the actual map. so already we've heard the ukrainians saying that this is an illegal vote. probably it will simply be a vote that does not have legal consequences of some kind, but that it will be allowed to go on. so probably they'll try to difuse di defuse it in that sense. i'm not sure international civilian monitors is a dog that's going to hunt in this, but nonetheless, i think there does need to be real stiepping p of the diplomacy. >> you think this is going to end somewhat like it did in 2008 where putin ultimately in 2008, he went into georgia and seized

control of two breakaway republics, went into georgia a little more, kept the two republics and that's the status quo. the world expressed outrage and then moved on. is that situation going to repeat itself with crimea? >> that sounds kind uninspiring but, yes, and it's probably the best outcome we can expect here. you know, i don't think we want to go into some huge blown -- full-blown crisis with russia. you do kind of wonder how this present generation of leaders would have handled the cuban missile crisis, which finally went out with a -- in a way that i think protected everybody's interests, even though it wasn't the most dramatic way of ending. that is, we ended up pulling some systems out of turkey at the time. so i think if we can get there to what you describe, i don't think it's such a terrible ending for what's been a real problem. i think russia needs to be thinking about its own internal

problems and how it can move westward. how it can join up with international systems. clearly putin is not taking the country in the right direction in terms of its democracy, but we can continue to work with them, at least get their economy moved westward and eventually maybe their democracy will move along in that direction as well. so i think, you know, we have to be very careful about all the testosterone that gets spent up and starting these things and figuring out how we can finish them. >> former ambassador christopher hill, thank you. we'll take a quick break. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ]

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of conservative leaders and activists kicks off in maryland. texas tea party favorite ted

cruz. dana bash is there. what's happening so far? >> good morning. it's only been underway about an hour. already had two potential 2016 republican candidates speak including one who is certainly speaking before a friendly crowd of conservative activists, ted cruz. not surprisingly he went after the big issue he's been talking about but also had problems with his party about, that is obama care. listen to what he said. >> we need to repeal every single word of obama care. [ cheers and applause ] >> when millions of americans stood up last fall and said stop this train wreck, this disaster, that is obama care, that is

hurting millions of people, the democrats said the main stream media said -- although i repeat myself -- they said this is hopeless. don't you understand. just move on, accept it, you can't do anything to stop this. >> yes, we can. you know, along with hope and chains, that's pretty good. >> see there, the audience member quoting president obama during the campaign, didn't mean to say what he did. >> the new jersey governor chris christie who is going to come here. he was not here last year. he was invited and uninvited. this is one we're watching to

see how he is perceived. >> thanks so much. hillary clinton remarks compared to putin. the tact ticks they're using. hitler before world war 2 and putin today. she described putin as a leader. >> as for president putin, i know we are dealing with a tough guy with a thin skin. i've had a lot of experience -- well not only with him but people like that. in particular president putin. i know that his political vision is of a greater russia. i said when i was still secretary that his goal is to resovietize russia periphery. in the process, he is

squandering the potential of such a great nation. >> anna palmer is plitt co senior core spontaneous dentd. good morning. every word hillary clinton speaks and move she makes is viewed by us in the plead i can't in the context of a possible run for president in 2016. what's been the response to putin remarks? hinge any time hillary clinton speaks she get ace big response, right? you're seeing she has had republicans come out in her defense saying you had senator john mccain, marco rubio. both agreed with the context she was putting forward. at the same time other republicans who are really highlighting her relationship and what she did at secretary of state in terms of resetting the relationship with russia as detriment to her potential presidential run. >> to be clear, what she was doing was talking about how hitler claimed he was going into countries, poland,

czechoslovakia to save germans there. putin was making the argument about ethnic russians in crimea. of course russia lost then the soviet union lost millions of soldiers fighting the nazi. it's not comparison without risks of offending people. can you believe that this is a statement she made not considering the implications, not considering that she would be further out on this than the obama administration? do you think she's calculated enough even in the off the road, quote unquote session knowing it would get out. >> i think invoking adolf hitler in any context is going to raise red flags. as a seasoned politician, few times are you off the cuff mentioning something like that. it's telling we're talking about hillary clinton more than what president obama is going to do today and what the house will vote on. she drives headlines in ways few

politicians can. >> we appreciate it. the next hour of cnn begins after this quick break. obvious:. and a hotel is the perfect place to talk to you about hotels. all-you-can-eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can. the hotel gym is short for gymnasium. the hotel pool is usually filled with water. and the best dot com for booking hotels, is hotels.com. it's on the internet, but you probably knew that. or maybe not, i don't really know you. bellman: welcome back, captain obvious. captain obvious: yes i am. all those words are spelled correctly.

i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world watching us on cnn international. i'm anderson cooper live in kiev from independence square. we begin with breaking news.

washington slaps the first sanctions against those to blame for the crisis in ukraine. the obama administration says there could be more punishment to come. i want to go straight to the white house and michelle is standing by. michelle, an important distinction. sanction as target individuals not russia as a nation right? >> reporter: that's a first place to start. the u.s. government from the start said this is going to be progressive. we saw them a few days ago decline to take part in meetings leading up to the g 8 then remove themselves from trade talks with russia and even discussing possible sanctions they said first you target individuals, asset freezes and visa bans. that's exactly what the president did this morning in signing this executive order. and they specified in the background briefing, senior administration officials said in terms of asset freezes, they don't have anybody really designated that the point. that's something they're going to be looking at. on the visa bands and relocation

of existing visas, there are people identified by the u.s. government, on this list as they put it. we don't know how many are on it. that's already in process. in fact, people who have visas in this country are notified as we speak that their visas will be revoked. they didn't specify what roles these people played. we know in the executive order, it spells out really four categories targeted people would fall under. people deemed by the u.s. go. to undermine the stability of ukraine, undermine the democratic process, misappropriating of state funds or asserting government authority there without the authorization of the government in ukraine. anderson? >> it's interesting michelle. this is something the united states has done in the past against individual russians on human rights violations. this is the first time obviously they're now expanding it solely based on the situation in ukraine. >> reporter: exactly.

we saw that recently with the magnitsky act target aing people, related to a court case where the person accused in russia had died in jail. congress decided to enact this law. right away, we saw russia retaliate if you want to call it that. they banned american adoptions of russian children. something that really stunned people in america. a lot of americans don't necessarily pay attention to dip lo -- diplomatic processes in other countries. when it affects people on the ground and you can no longer adopt a russian child, people say wow. what's going on? it was asked today, didn't russia say if sanctions were imposed they would then re retaliate and seize american companies in russia?

that's something the russian parliament was going to do. officials responded saying that doesn't concern us here. we felt we needed to act quickly and there should be costs and consequences now. there wasn't anything that touched this off this morning. some were asking whether this had to do with the referendum being brought up by the crimean parliament. officials said no, it has nothing to do with the referendum or other specific event. they wanted to do this now as a flexible and powerful tool they called it in case things escalate further. they said they have grave concerns they will. anderson? >> all right michelle, appreciate the update this morning. thanks very much. happening now in washington, lawmakers in both the house and senate are considering their own sets of sanctions. sanctions against russia, some like those unveiled this morning targeting individuals. others like one unveiled in the senate aimed to punish and

isolate russia itself. we're monitoring debates chls we'll bring you developments as warranted. stick around for. that u.s. trying to work diplomatic channels for standoffs in ukraine. secretary of state john kerry met with the prime minister lavrov not long ago. they met also yesterday in paris. elies is traveling with secretary kerry. anything come of that meeting? >> reporter: they wrapped up you about an hour's worth of talks. no agreement. the russian foreign minister left the talks according the russian wire service saying there was no agreement. they're looking to get some diplomatic process going. get some kind of coordination group where you would have russia and ukraine this the same room along with the united states, britain, france, germany, all trying to deescalate the situation. secretary kerry saying he knows it's not going to happen right away.

he understands the foreign minister lavrov has to go back to moscow and consult with putin. they hope to get a meeting going where russians talk about pulling back. >> thanks more that update. very much appreciate it. coming to you from one of the main roads going to independence square. people coming here to pay respects to those that have died. they come to bring flowers, bring prayers, look at pictures of those that have died. ukraine's interim mime minister is speaking out against the plan to let them vote claimi ining a referendum is illegal. >> this is illegitimate decision. this so called referendum has no legal grounds at all. that's the reason why we urge

russian government not to support those who claim separatism in ukraine. crimea was, is, and will be an integral part of ukraine. >> i've been talking to people here in the square throughout the morning, throughout the day. everybody says that they cannot imagine a ukraine without crimea. the idea of crimea joining part of russia is something people here simply do not accept. anna is live outside the parliament building in crimea. how are people there reacting? >> reporter: well it's a completely different feel here in the capital of the region which is crimea. it's an autonomous region part of ukraine. hours ago, the new parliament government here decided to vote

in favor of holding a referendum in about ten days time. they brought that forward meant to happen at the end of the month. they brought it forward to the 16th of march. in that referendum, the citizens of crimea will decide whether or not they want to stay with ukraine or break away and become part of the russian federation. that is the question being posed to citizens. you know, we have to keep in perspective that 60% of people here in crimea are russian speaking. very close ties between this region and russia. it was part of the soviet union before it was handed to ukraine. when the soviet union broke up, it stayed with ukraine. they feel they have close ties to russia. they feel they would be better off economically with russia. that is certainly the sentiment

we're getting here today. they're welcoming the russian troops who have come in. earlier today we were at a military base where russian troops were very, very visible. they're there occupying the bases. the people here at least many of the ones we have spoken to welcome their presence. >> as you pointed out, there are ethnic groups in crimea. there's a muslims who have been coming back in recent years after basically being forced out by stallin years ago. today ukraine is accusing russia of sinking a ship in the harbor. what's the latest on that? >> reporter: we don't have a lot of information. the ukrainian defense ministry is saying that an old warship as you say was taken down and seven

warships were blocked. that's the information we're getting. it happened in a crimean harbor. we're trying to ascertain more details. certainly there are attentions not just here in crimea where the base we were at earlier today. there are 700 russian troops that arrived friday. this is happening all over crimea. then you have the tension in southern ukraine and also eastern ukraine where other parts of the country are thinking of holding their own referendum to break away from ukraine. it really is starting. there's a momentum happening. those who are ethnic russians, those in support of vladimir putin really don't see their future if you like, with ukraine any longer. anderson? >> reporter: i appreciate the update. anna is crimea. be careful there. russia will not consider the

idea of crimea joining until after the referendum march 16th. this the roller coaster ride on wall street continues as informs tor -- as investors put fears behind them. a new high for the s&p 500? >> that's right. it's almost five years old and keeps moving here. with all that's happening where you are, investors don't believe russian president vladimir putin would retaliate against u.s. sanctions. they don't believe the damage that's also happened because of intervention in ukraine is something putin would continue to threaten his own economy by moving forward more in ukraine. that's at least what the markets are betting on right here. they're putting all of this behind them. look at that bull run. s&p 500 up 180% over the past five years. making highs again right now. look, we are always one headline

away from a wild move in the market. i want to be clear. there's no way to know what will happen next in the crisis. it's still an important factor. one sub text story is that a lot of people around the world say the more complicated or the longer this crisis drags out, it makes the u.s. the best place to invest for now. better than some other parts and assets in the world. that's actually playing into the favor of the stock market as well. two story lines there. one that maybe it's not going to get worse. number two, the u.s. is the best place to invest as long as this crisis is dragging on. >> reporter: interesting idea christine romans. appreciate that. the developments today on the ground could not have made the situation more complex. the idea of crimea voting on a referendum about joining the russian federation makes the diplomatic picture and military picture on the ground complex. we'll talk to others about that

coming up. still to come, in washington, lawmakers deit bahhing the response to the crisis in ukraine. not just sanctions against individuals but the sanctions on the country. we'll bring you details on what could happen coming up. when jake and i first set out on our own, we ate anything. but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel. these days we both eat smarter. and i give jake purina cat chow naturals. made with real chicken and salmon, it's high in protein like a cat's natural diet. and no added artificial flavors. we've come a long way. and whatever's ahead, we'll be there for each other. naturally. purina cat chow naturals. spcan go 795 highway milesen on a single tank. huh... so you could drive from los angeles all the way philadelphia with just three stops for fuel. that's just a hop, skip, and a jump. try that in another midsize sedan.

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to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? hey welcome back to our continued coverage of the crisis here in ukraine. joining you live from kiev. the u.s. and its global allies searching this day for some diplomatic answers. the diplomatic scene has gotten more complex today. crimean lawmakers have call aid vote of whether to join russia as a referendum.

i'm joined by jill to discuss it long. a long time follower of russian politics, since the last president, served as the bureau chief in moscow. she's also at the school of harvard university. you wrote the ousted president yanukovych was really pulling the strings, not putin. what do you make of the situation now? the diplomatic situation has gotten more complex? >> reporter: it has. it's driven by the people in ukraine, leaders in place that have now said in ten days they're going to hold referendum. in crimea i'm sorry. they also said that they are taking a principal decision. they want to be a part of russia. they're saying in ten days crimean people vote on this, stay with ukraine or go with russia. they're predicting 70% will vote for going to russia. >> that makes -- there are so

many complexities to the situation. all of a sudden you have the military bases in crimea. if people vote saying they want to be part of russia a they can argue the military bases are now on foreign soil and should though the be allowed to stay. >> absolutely. it raises issues for the y ukrainian government now. do they try to use force? does russia send in more reinforcements? it's highly dangerous and unpredictable what can happen. >> we talk about the ukrainian government. this is a new government. interim president, new prime minister. this is a shaky government at best. >> absolutely. politically, economically and every way. this is a challenge in a physical sense. they could be facing a part of their country being torn away

and the potential for actual fighting on the ground. if you look at the wires, you talk with people as our teams are down there, it's highly emotional. when that vote takes place, who knows. even the vote what could happen. >> the ukrainian military say fraction of the size of russia's military. russia's military deploys on in fronts. if russia moved to eastern ukraine or other areas, if crimea chooses to break away, there's nobody here -- certainly in kiev in the government or on the streets that are willing to entertain the idea of crimea being part of russia. >> absolutely. on every level. legally, militarily, they will not accept it. the problem is, if russia -- let's say that crimea votes for it. they send their requests to vladimir putin, please let us become part of russia. he says yes. then russia at that point considers it part of russia.

therefore russia in it's own eyes would have the right to do what it wants militarily or any way. >> there could be some sort of negotiation in terms of even if this referendum takes place, if they become part of russia. russia for diplomatic reasons could say no. there could be a federalist system, greater sense of autonomy or greater self-rule by cri crimea if they remain part of ukraine. >> it could. we don't know exactly what russia thinks about their coming into the folds of russia. do they really want them? some say they don't. it's complex in terms of the next step. the eu, this morning at the news conference, they said it would be illegal for crimea to hold that referendum. when you get to issues of

national sovereignty, territorial integrity, you have to have a vote by the entire country not just crimea. >> yeah. jill, appreciate that. we'll talk to jill throughout the day. still to come, a lot more in this hour. a u.s. destroyer heading towards the black sea. some say this has nothing to do with what is happening in ukraine. we'll be right back. in my world, wall isn't a street... ...return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal.

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welcome back. reporting live today from kiev ukraine.

new pictures as ukraine accuses russia of purposely sinking an old war trip trapping seven ukrainian ships. you see how easy it might be to block that entry way. the crisis in ukraine, the focus on capitol hill in washington where the house foreign affairs committee is holding a hearing on the u.s. approach to the situation. the committee chairman is telling cnn it will vote on the resolution involving sanctions with russia once this ends. dana bash joins me now. the house and senate taking action on russia. what are you hearing? >> that's right. when it comes to what to do now about russia, there's actually you striking similarity between what republicans and democrats want to do. one is sanctions. certainly they're happy about the white house and what they did today. there's other measures they want to take forward. the partisan divide is over how and why we got here. republicans are pounding the president saying it's his

choices, his -- in the words of many republican, lack of leadership that got us here. lindsey graham, senator from south carolina has been among the strongest. he even in a tweet earlier this week linked it to benghazi. he said in many ways it started with benghazi when the consulate was overrun and our first ambassador was killed. i had the chance to speak to the senator and ask how on earth is there a link? he said because the president there and other places said he was going to do something and didn't follow through. listen to what happened. >> when you drew a red line and tell the society use chemical weapon on your own people, that will be a red line. and you flinch. when you tell the world we're going to find the people that killed our four americans in libya including the ambassador and do nothing about it. whether you agree with the policy in syria, egypt.

whether you agree with his policies, when he tells people there will be consequences and there are none, it sets in motion exactly what you see. >> it just seems like a stretch to talk about the u.s. ambassador and three other americans killed to take that to -- >> i didn't say putin basically ignored obama because of benghazi alone. >> i printed out a series of tweets. >> yeah. >> it was rapid fire mean tweeting at the president. >> that is true. >> really personal. >> it is personal. >> calling him weak and indecisive no fewer than three times. >> i think he is. >> aren't you making him weaker in the eyes of putin by someone like you calling him weak? >> i think he is. during the war, did people

criticize bush's policies? didn't harry reid go on the floor and say the iraq war was lost? the point i'm trying to make is that there's been too many times in the last six months where the president has told people if you don't do what i say, there will be consequences and nothing happened. >> now to give you a little political context about lindsey graham. he's somebody people might recognize as a republican who supported the president in domestic issues even in international issues. not now. he says it's because the president has lost my confidence. he also is in a very intense primary fight back home in south carolina. he is being challenged from the right by conservatives. i asked if that has anything to do with his benghazi comments since benghazi is red meat for

conservatives. he insisted no. he says he intends to win his primary and after that still plans to focus on the issue of benghazi. anderson? >> i saw the interview last night. you certainly challenged him on how much is politics because of the primary challenge. i want to ask you about the executive order signed by president obama to pose sanctions on russians, individual russians who the united states believes are responsible for upheave on the ground. any response from congress on that? >> we haven't seen a formal response. this is certainly something that democrats and republicans have wanted the white house to do. there had been trepidation among some for the u.s. to go in alone and not do this in conjunction with allies. again the idea of being tough, swift with vladimir putin is really something that is bipartisan. i can tell you i'm looking at a

tweet from samantha power, the u.s. ambassador to the un. she says there are visa restrictions, another thing eastbound ma members of congress and both parties have been pushing the obama administration to do quickly to send a strong signal to vladimir putin. >> as you said, dana, being debated on capitol hill sanctions against individuals and russia. we'll report more on that throughout the day. we'll have more on crimea, you crane and all diplomatic fronts around the world. we'll be right back. i reckon a storm's a brewin'. reckon so. reckon you gotta hotel? reckon, no.

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welcome back to the special edition of "newsroom." i'm anderson cooper live in kiev. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world watching cnn. a lot going on on the ground in kiev and in russia. beefing up military presence coming from secretary chuck hagel. this morning a united states destroyer is on the move leaving greece and heading for the black sea. the state department is not seeing eye to eye on this.

listen to the heated discussion from the house committee months ago. >> does this administration believe the invasion of ukraine is act of war? >> congressman, we've said clearly we know what we have seen which is military aggression, intervention, affairs of sovereign country you violation of legal commitments, violation of international law. that is what we saw, what we're calling it. i'm though the an international lawyer. i wouldn't want to get into terminology. i think it's clear what we're seeing. it is clear also russia continues to occupy territory of republican of georgia. something we've been very clear in condemning. it is also clear that their commitments that all countries have with each other to settle disputes peacefully. that's not what we're seeing here. >> we should call it what it is. you said it's very clear, violation of international law. i believe it's also very clear this is an act of war against another nation. >> well, joining us to talk

about it, the pentagon correspondent barbara star and former army commanding general james spider. officials are saying this u.s. destroyer was scheduled to head to the black sea before everything unfolded. is that correct? >> it is. this was a long standing commitment they had. the uss is headed on its way to the black sea. even though it was scheduled, a bit of message sending perhaps the u.s. navy is not turning around regular schedule because things are sensitive in the area. it will be an international waters, make port visits, do its regular business whether the russians are happy about it or not. we also know of course now secretary hagel saying just a few moments ago the first u.s. fighter jets have arrived in the baltics after announcing more u.s. planes would go to help

patrol the air space to make small baltic nations feel better perhaps about the russian aggression. no direct threat against them from russia. countries are getting nervous. finally there are now discussions with poland about putting more u.s. air force presence into poland. the same thing, the countries on russian's flanks u.s. believes are anxious about the aggression. steps are being taken to reassure them. anderson? >> general marks, in regard to hagel's comments you said the beefing up of military presence isn't necessarily directed at russia. what do you mean? >> as barbara indicated, these deployments are primarily directed at friends and allies to make sure they understand we're with them, paying attention, watching activities individual lently and want to do what we can to settle them down. the key objective is deescalation. you can do that through the use of military force, through the

use of presence and partnerships like this so it's not a direct front to russia. clearly putin doesn't see it this way. he could care less about this. what we're interesting in doing now, the right move, to make sure we're linking arms with our partners. >> general marks, what do you make of what's happening on the ground now in crimea? the idea of a referendum. it seems to complicate things. if crimea votes to join russia, couldn't the new leadership in crimea argue that ukrainian military bases in crimea are no longer legal and valid and ukrainian forces must leave? yeah, that's got legs to it. i think there's something short of that that would occur. to answer your first part of the question, for crimea to hold their own referendum flies in the face of government in kiev.

kiev indicated until this is resolved some way, crimea is part of ukraine. population in crimea has no legitimacy on a referendum. however, what the united states and all partners needs to do at this point is realize that putin has stated clearly stated sevastopol and crimea is important to him. he's not going to roll forces back or give back. he wants to make sure he has firm control, access through sevastopol through the black sea fleet that's not at risk. the next step is see what happens in kiev. this referendum is movement towards a compromise that i think is going to complicate it greatly as you indicated. >> yeah. so good to have you on, barbara star as well. a lot to come. an american based russian news

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hey welcome back to our continuing coverage of the crisis in ukraine. second time in three days a russian television on core has spoken out. this time the anchor liz wall resigned on the air in protest. watch. >> personally i cannot be part of a network funded by the russian government that whitewashes the actions of

putin. i'm proud to be an american and believe in the truth. that is why after this newscast, i'm resigning. >> she is an american. she was working for rt america, this russian controlled network. she was working out of the washington bureau. i spoke with liz after her announcement. i asked why she chose to step down yesterday and also about the network's response. >> what's clear is what's happening right now a mid this crisis is that rt is not about the truth. it's about promoting a putin agenda. i can tell you first hand it's also about bashing america. i kind of sited some of my background where i came from and why i am proud to be an american. in recent days i've been suffering from cognitive dissense and felt i could no longer work here and go on

television and tell the american people that this is what's happening. and have it posed as news. i haven't seen the official response. i kind of saw on twitter before i went on today they said i'm doing this as -- for personal gain which is -- couldn't be farther from the truth. i hesitated to speak on this for a while because of fear of repercussion. i don't know how they intend to retaliate or what actions are going to be taken against me. i can say it's comforting on social media i've gotten an explosive response encouraging people appreciating me coming forward with this. >> i wanted to talk about this deeper. i'm joined by our correspondent brian stelter.

i did that interview. i was told she was reading from notes she had. what do you make of this resignation. she worked at rt america two and a half years. this is not new to her this is a russian controlled network that has a clear and obvious agenda. >> that's absolutely right this. channel produces this kind of news and content every single day. of course it's getting more attention now because of the current crisis. people are noticing. people in the united states are noticing the channel more. they're scrutinizing the channel more. it's fair to ask whether she decided to resign now on air to get out of the way before too much damage was done to her reputation. if you are on a channel obstetrics obscure bringing up things that are uncomfortable and no one is watching, that's one thing.

if you're on a channel getting attention that's another thing. she got out of the way. >> she was the first anchor to criticize the coverage. the first anchor didn't quit but criticized actions in crimea. someone could say she saw the attention the other anchor was getting and wanted attention as well. >> that's a fair question about russia in general. does the channel require assent in order to present itself as a channel that has independence and does not tow the russian government line? for what it's worth the russian website said this is a media war. what we're seeing is media war between russia and united

states. media companies owned by both sides. the editor in chief of russia says in this case both anchors are caught up in the war. the editor in chief says she thinks others could resign also, others may feel the same kind of pressure that liz did and may decide to leave for other employment opportunities. i'll be watching russia today to see what happens in the days to come. there's a lot of pressure now. >> it's interesting. one of the things liz was saying was a lot of lower level employees are young americans, trying to get into the business or just young americans. management is actually russians. it's obviously supported by the russian government. so there's this conflict sort of between upper management and upper management is controlling the message that actually makes it out on the air. >> hinge these conflicts will happen more in the future. we're moving to the age many

countries around the world have their own cable news chchannels subsidize. channels in china, france, and many others. there are more in the future. news anchors will be in uncomfortable positions because they're working for a channel backed by a certain government. this is a very dramatic example of that because of on a resignation. i've got to give her credit for doing it on air explaining herself. she looked like she was reading from notes when she talked to you last night. looked like she was reading notes when she resigned. maybe she wanted to make sure she got it right. give her credit for coming on and explaining herself. it will be interesting to see if she gets hired by a network in the united states or around the world. >> we'll see. appreciate you being on. thanks very much brian. still to come, the u.s. is moving to sanctioned individuals as we talked about at the

beginning of the program involved in the crisis in ukraine. slvladimir putin is not on the list of targets. we'll talk about that more when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ told ya you could do it. (dad vo) i want her to be safe. so, i taught her what i could and got her a subaru. (girl) piece of cake. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today...and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that...

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welcome back. today president barack obama as we mentioned signed the executive order laying down sanctions against individuals. the white house saying it was in response to quote russia's on

going violation of ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. the senior associate of the endowment for peace, i appreciate you joining us. what do you make of the executive order? it targets certain individuals and entities. vladimir putin is not named. how does this work? united states has done this before, targeting russians are human rights violations. >> we've seen the magnitsky act passed at end of 2012 that created the opening to provide sanctions against specific individuals for actions that were found by the americans to be in violation of human rights. the question about sanctions it seems to me is a simple one. do they work? do they have an effect? do they bring us closer tot strategic objective of getting

ukraine back to the conditions of control over its total territory? and russia back out crimea and out of business of interfering in ukraine? i'm not sure i see the link as being effective. >> you don't -- are you talking individual sanctions against individuals or sanctions against russia as a nation? >> well, we're talking about individual sanctions. i'm not sure it's going to produce an effective outcome. >> i guess the idea behind it is that by curt tailing the visits of wealthy russians or russians linked to the regime, that puts pressure -- they would then put pressure on vladimir putin. you don't think that ends up working? >> i have to say i look at evidence and i'm not persuaded

there's much of evidence base to make that case. if you look at the actual results of the magnitsky act i suppose certain people can't come to the united states. it produced a nasty reaction, counter actions, that simply led to for instance suspension of adoptions of american children. i'm not arguing this is justified or sensible but when you get to diplomacy like this, two play the game. it usually doesn't lead to a better environment to resolve differences. >> how much more complex now does the diplomatic situation become because of the decision by crimea's new leaders to have this referendum on march 16th about whether or not crimea

should join russia? >> i think this is provocative action and going to complicate matters greatly. i find it extremely interesting that the russian government seems to be taking a position that it now supports separatism. separatism by minorities or groups that don't like what essential government is doing. that is not been the russian position on most issues in the past. so that's one thing that's very strange. i also agree that if we get some kind of vote in crimea, however it's arranged or whatever terms it takes place, it's going to complicate the efforts to find a diplomatic solution to this and restore ukrainian control over its total territory. that's going to have to be the objective that the the united states and europe support. >> it's certainly the objective to people here in kiev.

james collins, i appreciate it. former ambassador to russia. we'll be back in a moment. what if you could shrink your pores just by washing your face? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® pore refining cleanser. alpha-hydroxy and exfoliating beads work to clean and tighten pores so they can look half their size.

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hey welcome back. as we close out the hour, i want to share an image coming to us. senator leader mcconnel minutes ago in maryland. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is there live and joins us now. what's the back story? >> the back story hit turns out anderson is mitch mcconnel was giving out an a ward to tom. the courage under fire lifetime achievement a ward. he came out with a rifle and handed it to tom. it wasn't clear to us here what was going on. i had to call mcconnel's office

to get clarification. he didn't randomly walk out with a gun. there was a purpose. he was giving it to tom, a well respected conservative senator among the conservative activists here. he's retiring early before the end of his term at the end of this year for lots of reasons. one of the reasons is that he has had cancer he's been battling with. this was a way to honor him in a way to do so by a specific organization, nra which makes sense to hand him a gun. we had to get clarification why that happened. >> how long is this going on for? >> cpac is going on for three days. this is just beginning this morning. we've had a couple of -- several high profile speakers. ted cruz, paul ryan. well received by the very large

group of conservative activists. the big speaker we're waiting for, the one to watch, in 45 minute, chris christie. we want to see how he is perceived by activists here. he often times rubs them the wrong way. >> dana bash, i appreciate it. thanks very much. thanks everyone for joining me. i'm anderson cooper this hour with berman and michaela starts now. >> new threats and dangers from ukraine, latest on the ground at this hour. the speech that could make or break new jersey governor chris christie in front of what would be the hostile crowd. every obstacle you could imagine. how one dynamic principal is turning things around. he's one of the revelations in the new cnn original series